Volume 24 Issue 7 - April 2019

the North American and European tectonic plates which are gradually
moving apart at a rate of a millimetre or two per year; a number of
unbelievable waterfalls, various hot springs and geysers and the black
sand beaches of Vik. Most striking was the stark, treeless landscape
and the barren hillsides dotted with Iceland’s miniature horses and
endless sheep. And why am I telling you all this? I believe that trip
gave me the background to truly appreciate the starkness of the
next disc.
Icelandic-born cellist Sæunn
Thorsteinsdóttir has just released
Vernacular (Sono Luminus DSL-92229
saeunn.com/vernacular) which includes
world premieres of solo works written
for her by three of the current generation
of Icelandic composers, and a
contemporary classic by senior composer
Haflidi Hallgrímsson (b.1941). Composer
Hallgrímsson is a cellist in his own right (and incidentally was in
the trio ICE with Robert Aitken and composer/pianist Thorkell
Sigurbjörnsson during the 1970s). He composed Solitaire for solo
cello in 1969 and it was his first published work, later revising it to
its current form two decades later. Thorsteinsdóttir says that from
the first time she played the work she felt a connection “not only
to the music, but also beyond the music.” The idiomatic writing
is like “playing [with Hallgrímsson’s] hands… getting to know a
fellow musician in this physical way is satisfying and humbling at
the same time.” After the extremes of the first three pieces on the
disc, Solitaire is a welcome relief. A five-movement work, it opens
with Oration employing simultaneous left-hand pizzicato beneath a
soaring bowed melody. Serenade is played entirely without the bow
while the central Nocturne is richly melodic in a meditative way. This
is followed by a Dirge which the composer says “is lyrical in nature
and hints at darker thoughts, leading eventually to the last movement
which is a lively and energetic Jig.” This performance makes clear
why Solitaire is regarded as a seminal and significant exploration of
“the sound world… available to the contemporary cellist,” at least as
perceived in 1969.
As mentioned, the recent works on this recording explore more
extreme notions. The disc begins with Páll Ragnar Pálsson (b.1977), a
rock musician who has recently come to the world of art music. He
studied with Helena Tulve at the Estonian Academy of Music where he
received a PhD and in 2017 released his first album as a composer.
In 2018 his Quake for solo cello and chamber orchestra was a selected
work at the International Rostrum of Composers in Budapest, which
marked his first collaboration with compatriot Thorsteinsdóttir. The
solo work Afterquake is a direct outgrowth of that project. This is
followed by 48 Images of the Moon by Thurídur Jónsdóttir (b.1967),
thewholenote.com/listening
which combines solo cello with quiet natural sounds from a field
recording made at night in an Icelandic fjord by Magnús Bergsson. The
entire piece takes place in barely audible gestures with only a rare
pizzicato pop rising above the field. Halldór Smárason (b.1989)
contributes a three-movement work simply titled O. Thorsteinsdóttir
tells us that “In Iceland, darkness in the winter months has created a
need for light and warmth for centuries, and candles continue to be a
source for both. This piece explores the meaning and associations
with the intimacy, warmth, and the wild yet contained energy of the
light of the candle and its effect on the darkness surrounding it.” As
effective as this depiction is, it only makes me the more content to
have visited Iceland during the days of the midnight sun.
This month’s final disc also contains new
works for solo cello, but with a very different
premise. Guided by Voices – New Music
for Baroque Cello (Analekta AN 2 9162
analekta.com/en/) features works written
for Elinor Frey. Frey, an accomplished
cellist comfortable in the music of all eras
but particularly known for her early music
acumen, says: “When modern composers
write a new piece for ‘Baroque’ cello it becomes an instrument of
today, helping to expand the sound worlds of both the cello and new
music audiences.” The breadth of vision and diversity of voices represented
here certainly support this. Scott Edward Godin’s piece, which
gives the album its title, “draws inspiration from the life and oeuvre
of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, […and] exploits the obsessiveness found
within recurring melodic units of Hildegard’s music, deconstructing
these units before reconstructing them in a new musical framework.”
Those familiar with Hildegard’s long, sustained melodies may be
surprised by the level of activity in Godin’s creation, but strains of her
melodies do peek through the busyness.
Minerva, says composer Lisa Streich “imagines a goddess who,
almost like an octopus, helps with or stands for many things at once
– a goddess of everything. She reminds me of the human being of
the future, a human fully endowed with equal rights, who, according
to Global Gender Gap Reports, should exist in 217 years.” Frey dedicates
her project to Maxime McKinley with gratitude for his “humour
and kindness.” McKinley’s own contribution, Cortile di Pilato, was
inspired by a courtyard in Bologna surrounded by the Basilica of Santo
Stefano, a complex of four churches built on a foundation begun in
the fifth century that was itself built on a temple dedicated to the
Egyptian goddess Isis. He says: “I was interested in the ‘copresence’ of
different epochs in the same place that create a thread among many
centuries. This pleased me, particularly when writing a piece for
Baroque cello and harpsichord.” For this performance Frey is joined
by Mélisande McNabney.
Like the McKinley, Linda Catlin Smith’s Ricercar was commissioned
with the support of Toronto philanthropist, the late Daniel
Cooper. It is perhaps the most “Baroque” of the pieces on offer here;
played with little or no vibrato, the melody gently unfolds and grows.
But gradually it expands through other sound worlds as the melody
is supported by double and triple stops that produce some close
harmonies, some wide interval jumps and, toward the middle of the
piece, a driving rhythmic pulse. This eventually gives way to a quiet
section before building dramatically again and receding once more.
Ken Ueno says Chimera “is a kind of meta-suite in five movements,
one that traverses time. Starting with a contemporary recasting of a
prelude, the following movements gradually approach a ghost of the
Baroque.” Frey seems at home in all the realms this journey presents
her with, be it just intonation, microtonality, hectic virtuosity or stasis.
It is our good fortune to accompany her.
John Zorn: Chamber Music
Molinari Quartet
Recognized as a major influential
figure in contemporary jazz and
the avant-garde, John Zorn is the
focus of the latest recording by
Molinari Quartet.
Handel – Dixit Dominus;
Bach & Schütz – Motets
Ottawa Bach Choir; Lisette Canton
The Ottawa Bach Choir presents
works by three of the most
important composers of the
German Baroque period –
Handel, Schütz and Bach.
We invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent
to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc., The Centre for Social
Innovation, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4.
David Olds, DISCoveries Editor
discoveries@thewholenote.com
70 | April 2019 thewholenote.com